Asia

Indonesia reduces end of year holiday break to contain COVID-19

The Indonesian government has decided to reduce the number of collective leave days for the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Making good on previous suggestions, President Joko “Jokowi’ Widodo has decided to cut the 2020 year-end holiday short to restrict the transmission of COVID-19. The change was widely anticipated following a spike in virus transmission after a long weekend in October.

Under the new arrangements, Indonesia will enjoy a total of eight days off, namely from December 24th to 27th for Christmas, December 31st for the Idul Fitri substitute leave, as well as from January 1st to 3rd for the New Year celebration.

The arrangements for the upcoming holidays coincide with two weekends, meaning that the public will have two sets of long weekends in late December and early January.

Previously, there were 11 days of leave in the year-end national holidays. “Therefore, there are three fewer days off,” Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy said when announcing the changes.

“The new arrangement is a reduction, meaning that we won’t have substitutes in the future,” he added.

The three days that are no longer collective leave holidays were originally planned for December 28th to 30th. These were initially planned due to curtailment of the Eid Fitri holidays. in May

The joint decree on the newly arranged collective leave for the year-end holiday is to be signed by the coordinating human development and culture minister, the manpower minister and the religious affairs minister.